One reason for the discrepancy might be the relative enthusiasm expressed by Cuomo and Obama about the fund-raising entities they're affiliated with.

According to the New York Times, the Cuomo administration actively steered interested donors to support the Committee. Obama, on the other hand, had inveighed against the existence of super PACs, before reluctantly endorsing Priorities' efforts in February of this year.

The Committee to Save New York can also offer something that Priorities' PAC can't: anonymity. As a 501(c)4, the Committee's donations don't have to be disclosed, though the New York Timesuncovered that a $2 million contribution came from the Casino Gaming Association, with another $400,000 added later by the casino company Genting. And a Buffalo-area trade group told the Buffalo News it bundled donations that totaled nearly $1 million.

The caveat here is that Priorities' nonprofit arm—the group is comprised of both a PAC and an ostensibly nonpolitical, nonprofit organization—has yet to file with the I.R.S., making it impossible to know the true extent of the group's fund-raising. But it's still not a good sign that Priorities' PAC, which has already lagged behind the $56 million raised by its counterpart supporting Mitt Romney, is trailing Cuomo too.

Another reason for the disparity might be that Priorities has a general mission to support the president's re-election, while Cuomo's Committee ostensibly has a more precise and business-friendly purpose: to lobby on behalf of the governor's budget, which makes for a more direct connection between the business interests and the group's donations.